Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Letter to the Editor on False Claims Bill
The Maryland Chamber thanks the State Senate for defeating the false claims bill. This legislation, SB 272, would have exposed hospitals, doctors and other health care providers to more lawsuits for billing issues with the State. By increasing lawsuits against health care providers, it would have driven up health care costs for employers and further limited access to health care in Maryland.
Existing state law provides for the collection of triple damages for Medicaid fraud, with felony sanctions and imprisonment for egregious cases. These state laws are supplemented by the federal False Claims Act that already provides an avenue for a private citizen to file suit on behalf of the federal government for alleged false claims and receive a share of recoveries.
The legislation was defeated in a close 23-24 vote. The Baltimore Sun wrote an editorial blasting the Senate for defeating this bill. Below is a letter to the editor Maryland Chamber President/CEO Kathy Snyder, CCE submitted in response.
I’ve included the letter as originally submitted below. Somehow Sen. C. Anthony Muse’s name got edited out of the letter. They also removed my favorite line, “The $11 million that proponents said would be collected next year from this bill was always an illusion and the biggest false claim of the session.”
Health fraud bill deserved defeat
Your recent editorial (“The defrauders win,” March 27) unfairly criticized Senators McFadden, Pugh, Muse and Exum, as well as the majority of the Maryland Senate, that rightfully voted to reject legislation that would have increased the number of lawsuits against Maryland health care providers.The so called “False Health Claims Act” would not have rooted out Medicaid fraud or provided a windfall of collections to the State treasury. There is no evidence that other states that have enacted such statutes collect more recoveries from fraud as a result of such laws. The $11 million that proponents said would be collected next year from this bill was always an illusion and the biggest false claim of the session.
There are already a vast array of state and federal agencies with responsibility for, and laws governing, fraud and abuse. Under this bill, health care providers would have incurred higher defense costs, faced multiple lawsuits, and have been subjected to duplicative penalties for the same allegedly wrongful act. The only winner would have been the trial lawyers.
With the current shortage of doctors in Maryland and the rising cost of health care, the last thing we need is more lawsuits against health care providers. We thank the Maryland Senate for rejecting this misguided legislation that would have driven up health care costs for employers and further limited access to health care in Maryland.
Kathy Snyder, Annapolis
The writer is president and CEO of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.
